Embarking on a Mystical TuB'Shevat Seder: With its Sacred Traditions of Wine and Fruits

S Simon Jacob: 0:09

elcome to The Kosher Terroir. I'm Simon Jacob, your host for this episode from Jerusalem. Before we get started, I ask that, wherever you are, please take a moment and pray for the safety of our soldiers and the safe return of all of our hostages. The following episode of the Coucher Terroir is a recording of our Tubeshvat Seder with the Makubal Kabbalist from Har Tzion Mount Zion. He joined my son Ovadiah and myself, at our dining room table in our home in Jerusalem. The traditional Tubeshvat Seder includes four cups of wine and blessings on multiple fruits and nuts, along with readings from many biblical and rabbinical sources throughout the experience. Rabbi Yaakov Shepard is an incredibly knowledgeable resource on many Kabbalistic sources and provides details on their actual implementation and practice. The wines were wonderful and we actually surprised Rabbi Shepherd with some additional inspiration and thoughts on their consumption. If you're commuting in your car, please focus on the road and enjoy. If you're home, please choose a delicious Coucher wine, sit back and listen in on this little known but wonderful annual tradition.

S Simon Jacob: 1:48

Okay, first of all, welcome to the Coucher Terroir. What we're going to try to do this evening is the Kabbalistic Seder for Tubeshvat. So I have here the esteemed , who taught for many years on Har Tzion. He still teaches and he's a student of my Rav as well, Rav Yisrael AviChai from Yishivat Bet El in the Old City. And also I have my illustrious son Ovadiah with me again in Israel, pleasantly. It's great to have him back here in Israel and we're going to try to go through this Seder, so, please, god. So, to start, what is TuB'Shevat?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 2:48

Well, the simple answer is that this is the new year of the trees. So in the Maserat of Rosh Hashanah it says that there's like four, like Rosh Hashanah, there's four new year events within the year, and the Rosh Hashanah that everybody knows is the Rosh Hashanah of Tishrei. But besides of that there's also Rosh Hashanah of the trees, which is Tubeshvat. It's actually a map between Bershaman Bet-Illal. According to Bershama Yitzin, rosh Chodesh of Shvat and according to Bet-Illal it's Tubeshvat, and there is like a halachic application of the date for, like the count of the Shemitah, the trees that are like starting to the new, the rejuvenation of the trees is in this day of Tubeshvat. So from that day onwards it's considered to be a new year. So, for example, in Shemitah. So whatever was in the Tubeshvat of Shemitah and later that will consider to be the fruits of Shemitah, and then it lasts much after the Shemitah, after Rosh Hashanah of the Shemitah, like the one of Tishrei. So later there's more fruits still in the market for quite a while.

S Simon Jacob: 4:25

So it actually goes for more than a year. It goes for a year and almost a half.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 4:29

It is a year, but it's different dates.

S Simon Jacob: 4:32

Because for different fruits.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 4:34

According to the I'm not sure how you say it in English, but there's a concept that is like that. In Tubeshvat there's something that is Khazal is describing as that the saraf is ole ba ilanot, that the saraf goes up in the tree like the new sap of the new year and that end up to be to result as fruits. So that's like whatever is future to be fruit is starting now. So it takes a while until we see it, but the potential is like starting to build up for the fruits to come.

S Simon Jacob: 5:17

I know with Orla it's also. It starts from if you can get your vineyard planted before Tubeshvat, then starting on Rosh Hashanah, it is already counted as one year. So you don't have to. What you call it, you don't have to wait for full three years. It already takes that period of time off.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 5:46

So this is the alachic meaning and application of Tubeshvat mostly.

S Simon Jacob: 5:53

Tubeshvat is which day of Shvat the 15th. Okay, so that's why it's called Tubeshvat, because the letters Two is the numerical value of 15. So that's why they call it Tubeshvat.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 6:10

So the Kabbalistic meaning for Tubeshvat is? It's a discussion for itself but, to put it like simple, there is a special meaning for Tubeshvat and Tubiav, that are two sides, two and two, tubeshvat and Tubiav, that according to the result, they come together, like in their spiritual meaning. So each one of the holidays have special meaning according to the Kabbalah and it is connected to certain spheres and so on. And also Tubeshvat it has something to do and specifically it is also connected with the time frame that we are in Shavavim, those Parashot, hashavua, from Shemot until Mishpatim, that, according to the Mechubalim, it is time of the tikkun of the Assad. So the Tubeshvat is also connected with that understanding of the tikkun of the Assad. Like you want me to explain what it means. The Assad.

S Simon Jacob: 7:22

Yeah, if you can. It's simply I don't know how to Okay.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 7:27

Well, the simple way to say it is that anything to do with sexual immorality issues. So this time of the year is the time to fix it and to repent on that and to do other. And the fruits of the trees is also connected with it because, like, children are the fruits of us and so there is a great connection there.

S Simon Jacob: 7:54

Okay, so why don't more people know about this?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 8:00

So the book that became to be the most famous about the Kabbalistic meaning of the holidays is the Shahr Kavanat of the Arizol, and there Tubeshvat is not mentioned. And there is another book that is also quite known, that is Prietschaim. That was the main book that was known in Europe in the beginning, before the writing got all over the world. But in Prietschaim it does mention Tubeshvat and Tubehav as the, the posldrum are connected with the Assad, the Sfirav-Yasod Foundation, but also there it doesn't really explain like something that you have to do, because it gives like the meaning of the day, which is very valuable, but it doesn't tell us what to do practically. And the source of what we're doing is a book that is called Chimda Tehamiim. Chimda Tehamiim, according to my tradition, was written by one of the students of the Arizal Noth, rabi'i Chaymi'al, and for different reasons it didn't come to be so popular. So many people they don't know about this book, or they know about it, but they don't know what's there.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 9:31

And there it speaks about the Seder to be very specifically what to do.

S Simon Jacob: 9:37

It was probably hampered because of Shabtai Tzvi created such a bad pale over Mukubalim or people studying the Kabbalah, that there was a whole generation, basically that just basically shut out any Kabbalistic practices, right specifically in Europe and that affected, like also the Sfaradi world in a way.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 10:07

But yeah, I call it a trauma, the trauma of the Jewish world from Kabbalah, because it was actually there was a bad Arba Aratzot I don't know how they say it in English like a big committee of big rabbis of Europe that they gathered after the whole thing of Shabtai Tzvi finished, and one of the decisions that they made is that generally, people shouldn't deal with Kabbalah unless they are very, very, very qualified, and so that was definitely a reason for people not to deal with anything to do with it.

S Simon Jacob: 10:52

Okay. So one of the things that you do on the Lail to Bishwat is you have a Seder, right, okay, and the Seder is based around a few things. It's based around Arba Kasot of wine, a little different than the Passover Seder we actually have on the Tubish Vatseder a white wine to start, then a rosé, a light rosé, then a lighter red like a grinache, and then after that a deep red. So that's one of the reasons we're discussing it this evening on the Kosher Tehwach, because it is very wine and Israel focused. We also have different fruits and vegetables, different fruits, basically, and nuts that we eat, and there's three different levels of those fruits and we're going to get into that as to what they are and what have you. So what's the first thing we're going to do?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 12:04

First thing is that we're going to pour the first cup of the white wine.

S Simon Jacob: 12:08

Yes.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 12:10

And while you're pouring the wine, I will explain that that first cup of white wine is connected with the world of Atsilut Atsilut is what. Is the first. Maybe I'll start like this there's four worlds according to the Kabbalah, that maybe it will be easier for people to relate to them as four dimensions. The Atsilut is the highest one, which is the most abstract.

S Simon Jacob: 12:46

Closest to the Kodesh Bar.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 12:49

Everything is close to the Kodesh Bar, but the light of Hashem is mostly revealed there, so the highest level of revelation. And so we are drinking the first cup as we are symbolizing the light that comes from the highest dimension and it comes down closer to us. And that will be basically the structure of those four cups that every time we are coming down from one dimension to another, so we are drinking another cup as the light goes down. And the connection to the fruits is that, finally, when all this light, all this abundance is manifested in the physical world, so one of the ways is the fruits of the trees, and with that we can also have in mind all of the fruits of whatever it is that we want to bring blessings for in our life.

S Simon Jacob: 14:02

So we make a brachat. So this does not involve a Kodesh, it just has a brachat that we make anyayan.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 14:15

So the hagim that we have, kodesh is the hagim, the oraita, and we have also Hanukkah and Purim, which is the Rabbanan, and the Seder, to be sure, is not even the Rabbanan, he is a minhag of Makubalim, some Makubalim. So it's not obligatory and because it is in that position, so it's nice in a way that it's very flexible. There is an open area for people that they don't want, they don't know exactly what to do, so they don't have so much of an issue. And for me I say that also non-Jews can celebrate it, there's no problem, like for a regular hug, like a real hug. So it's an issue, but to be sure, it's something that everybody can enjoy.

S Simon Jacob: 15:08

Very cool, so we're going to drink our first white wine, baruch atadunai. Elohim numelacholam baray pri hagefet.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 15:20

Amen. Oh, that's a lot, I don't know. So this is a delicious gushetzion savenon blanc.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 15:42

They were drinking it's crisp and it's very fresh.

S Simon Jacob: 15:47

It's just really a lot of wine Wonderful. Okay, it's a great start.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 16:08

I will also say that there is an order of like baruch atadunai, so you do it before the baray pri hagefet, not like shabbat, because there's no kiddush and kiddush isn't like a special, but in the case like that, if somebody wants to do like a meal with bread, so you should do it before. And also I wrote in the Sadatubi Shabbat that even though the main thing is the fruits of the trees, but it's also to have like the order of the baruch atadunai, so there's a reason to do mezzanot, which we didn't do, and it's fine Not to do it, to do it before, to do it before a gafet.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 16:56

So in the order of the baruch atadunai it's magaesh. So mezzanot mem comes before the gimel of the maga. So you have like mezzanot and then gafen and then etz. So if somebody wants to do the like with mezzanot, so to do it before the why Preferably, but if somebody wants to do it afterwards it's also fine, no problem.

S Simon Jacob: 17:19

Okay, very cool, very cool Actually. I'm going to put a link from the podcast to the electronic version of this Tubish Vatsator for people who want to get it.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 17:34

Okay.

S Simon Jacob: 17:36

Great.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 17:40

So let's open the book in the first cup Kind of starts in 36, 37 with the mezzanot, and then the bracha that we just did of Borre pregefin is in 38, 39., 39. Okay and yeah. So the main thing that we have to have in mind with the Sadatubish Vats is that the idea is to bring the blessings of Hashem to the fruits of the trees. So we know that, like the whole creation is connected with the spiritual work that Amisal do and we have that privilege, we have that possibility to bring more blessings and specifically with this Sadatubish Vats. So the way I did it is to connect like a piece of Torah, little pieces of Torah, to the different fruits. So whenever we're going to meet, like one of the fruits, so we have like a Pasuk or a Mishnah or a little like line of Zohar or something like that, that will go with it and the truth of the learning of the Torah extends and multiply the blessings and the abundance that comes down.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 19:17

There's a lot of shame that all of the fruits of the whole world will be blessed. So what's next? So we did the Borre pregefin with the first cup and now we need to say the Borre pre-Ez. I'm in page 40. So what?

S Simon Jacob: 19:32

are we going to say Borre pre-Ez?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 19:36

So the Pasuk goes on the fig. So let's take the fig, which is one of the Actually, I think, yes, we do.

S Simon Jacob: 19:43

We have some dry steaks. We have the right here.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 19:46

I will just say that, like in many places, the figs the dry figs specifically have a problem with of worms. So people really have to like learn how to check them and really look inside very, very carefully. So we're going to first say the Borre pre-Ez and then we'll say the Pasuk that is connected with the fig.

S Simon Jacob: 20:13

Okay, Borre Pre-Ez Amen.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 20:21

One more thing I didn't explain. Yes, and the structure that we have here is like three groups of fruits. Yes, and now we are in the first group of the fruits, which is the fruits that are eaten with the peel and with the seeds. So that's like the highest level. That corresponds to the world of Bria. So we had like the world of Azzilut coming down. So the next world down is the world of Bria. I think they translate as a creation.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 21:04

I believe, Okay, so as like all those fruits that are eaten with the shell and with the seeds, the whole fruit is eaten is in that level of the world of Bria, and as much as fruits. According to the regional set there, it should be like 30 fruits, so 10 fruits for each one of the three worlds Bria Ez, R and Azzia. That's original. So you have like 10 spheroids in each one of the walls, so 10 fruits are corresponding to the 10 spheroids.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 21:45

But it's very hard to get like all of those fruits sometimes. I will just say that the original text of this book Chumdata Emim is like is giving like a lot, a lot, a lot to read on each one of the fruits. I did like a very, very like minimalistic like version that it will be like easier for people, because if somebody wants to do like the full set of two-bishwath according to original text of the Chumdata Emim, it would take the whole night easily. When someone is fluent in his reading it's so much like articles of Zohar and Mishnahyot and a lot of reading. But I wanted to make it that it will be something that people can actually do. So we'll just say the Pasuk Nocer Tehna, yohar Pirya, this is the Pasuk, that the fig is mentioned, tehna, and then there is like a little bit of Zohar that you want to read it.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 22:52

Let's say Tehna. Yohar Pirya Then says Abba says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, what is the deeper meaning of this Pasuk? Apparently, the Torah is compared here to figs. Why? Just like a fig tree, the more you search, the more figs you will find. The more you delve into it, the more in German you'll feel.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 23:12

So there's a special quality of the fig tree that it's not like not all the fruits are getting ripe at the same time. So if somebody had like a fig tree in his yard, so he can go out like every morning and search for like a ripe fig to eat, and when it's a big fig tree, so as much as you look, you can find more. So in the same way, we should like come to the Torah every morning, every day, and look for like new things that will inspire us and could help us to connect to Asher. So we're moving on. Yes, what's next? So we have grapes, do we have grapes? Yes, so it's like saying, sure, that the zahar that I put in connection to the grapes is that the grapes are all connected right in a bundle, right In the same way.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 24:10

Also the shchina, which is the mission, all of the souls of Am Israel are all connected, and when we are ascending, when we are elevating, like for example in Tubishvat and the Adah Hagim and so on, when we pray, so one is affecting the other. So as much as there's more elevation, so everything elevates together, like the grapes that, like everything, they are all connected in the how do you call it the shkol Cluster, cluster in the cluster, so the next one. So let's go for the olive and page 45. Right, yeah, but before that we have the next cup of the wine. Okay, we have the next cup of the wine, which is the light rosé. Right, yes, so whoever doesn't have the light rosé can take the white wine and pour a little bit of red wine inside. God forbid, god forbid.

S Simon Jacob: 25:12

You need to have a rosé on hand.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 25:15

But the idea is that, as we're coming down, like from the world of Briana to the world of Yetzirah, so we are, the light is coming down, yes.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 25:31

And as the light is coming down, lord, who mentions have more judgments that are holding back the expansion of the light. So the redness is symbolizing the judgment. So a smile is as long as we're going down, so that the wine become to be more red, like the judgments are getting stronger. Okay, so we have the second cup, chai M'chai. We have the second cup of the M'lashalom. No, the top man is Tiv Amen you're right.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 26:16

And if you didn't have that on the table when you said the Borepa Geffen, so then you say atovametiv, okay, when you have it in front of you, when you say Borepa Geffen, so the Borepa Geffen covers that. I always say atovametiv, I always also try to say it.

S Simon Jacob: 26:32

But for this reason.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 26:34

I don't bring the second wine to the table I wait for, like after.

S Simon Jacob: 26:37

Borepa Geffen, then I bring the second one. Okay, so what we're drinking here is a rose, a lovely rose, from a small little winery Down near Taka'a, called Hasela, and it's near.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 26:57

Kana'aruguk.

S Simon Jacob: 26:57

Yeah, aruguk Park, and, and it's a beautiful little winery. Who's there? Two men who decided to found the winery, and it's their wives who are making the wine, because they're both, unfortunately, in the war, so they're both working very hard to make the wine.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 27:21

Bring them back to their house.

S Simon Jacob: 27:23

Yes, safely, safely. So now we're going to eat the olive.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 27:26

Right, so the Pesuch of the Holy Page 45 the Pesuch is the name of the Pesuch is she's a great leader of the Holy Page. Okay, that means One of the One of the powerables for Am Israel is is olive, for different reasons, but so here the Pesuch is telling us that the beautiful, fresh olive Hashem is calling Meaning to Am Israel. Like I said before, the judgment of the destruction of Bethan Mkhdash right, it's it, echalea, so. So there's like the fire that went into the Bethan Mkhdash, and so we have here, like in this Pesuch, that like in one hand, like the love of Am Israel to the love of Hashem, to Am Israel in one hand, and the judgment that Hashem is have judged us in this, in this way.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 28:37

The Midrash says the Bethan Bethan Mkhdash is compared to oil. Just as oil illuminates, so the Bethan Mkhdash illuminates the whole world.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 28:44

Similarly, our forefathers were called fresh olives because they lit up the world with their faith in Hashem the olives are the Like a fruit that we don't eat the seed but we eat the peel but we don't eat the seed, right? So that is related to the world of Yitzirah. Now We've come down the level more right came down to the level of Yitzirah, and the same same level is also the date Right.

S Simon Jacob: 29:13

Okay, what you're here, so we're gonna have the dates.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 29:16

Yeah, by the way, I will say that by many people, what they do in Tubish, what is that? They just like eat Like fruits of, of of Eretzis, the seven species, yeah, of Eretzis. So like the day that what we have now right, the, the date and the, and the Fee and the olive, and now the date, is all part of those seven species right, it's lovely.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 29:47

Very good dates for Hashem well, truly perish in Ishtokhava and ours.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 29:55

When I have Bahuim that are not married. In my table for Osheshan, now for Tubishvad, I told them that like to have in mind to have a good date. Good.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 30:07

Good school.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 30:09

Okay, so we have the Pesuk, let's say the Pesuk sadi, kathama, lifra, k'eres, balevanon isge, so that the righteous person is elevated upwards, like like the day tree that is very high and it is giving like blossom, blossom. And k'eres is, how do you say, eres?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 30:38

cedar cedar cedar. That is like the known freeze that was in bed amik dash right. Shloma melech was like building bed amik dash with the razzim of the of the Lebanon. So that's like that. The basically gives us the Quality of the righteous people, that they are very ascended and they see very far because they are so high so that they have like a very like a unique way of seeing things.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 31:11

Also, it's beautiful that Talmud asks why in Dehalem was a righteous man compared to a cedar tree and also a date tree. The answer is he's compared to a cedar tree and that he renews himself when cut down Shaviyah poltzadik l'qam and to a date tree, and that it grows fruit.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 31:30

Beautiful. We came to the apple. So the pasuk of the apple, ketapur b'etsaiyah kendadib enamanim Beziloh imad tibi ashav tiufir yom etog lechikin. So it's from shirah shireem and it means that, like the, like the, the apple tree between the different trees of the forest, six houses, because it have good fruits to eat. So when someone goes through the forest and you see like an apple tree, so it makes a big difference for him. So in a way we are relating to ashem, that For people that don't know and they compare ashem to all kinds of other religions, other spiritual ways, so it's like, like that it's actually give fruits. There's there's there's meaning for the, for what we are doing, and so that's kendadib enamanim there, my beloved one, meaning ashem between the others, that you can compare them Right. So that's the reason I sit under a shade and and and I get the benefit of that solution. You want to say this one yeah, go ahead.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 32:54

It also says that the Apples have a Sigula for Pornesah, because it says tapuach is the same geometry as patuach. Open from the pasuk Potirhe diyedech o maspiyah lechukh ayar atzum.

S Simon Jacob: 33:08

Tapuach, which is an apple in Hebrew, is the same geometry as patuach yeah, which is to open. So that's why there's a pasuk that people often say Potirhe diyedech o maspiyah lechukh ayar atzum, that ashem opens his hands and satisfies every living thing.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 33:32

It's from the, from the mishnah of Burukhut.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 33:35

Yeah, if they sat down to eat, each one blesses for himself. If they reclined, one blesses for all. And that's a Burqad Amozon, no, no.

S Simon Jacob: 33:44

Mm-hmm.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 33:45

If wine was brought before them during the meal, then each one blesses over the wine for himself. That's a Brachach runna for the wine. The same person makes the blessing over the Mughmar, in sense, even though the Mughmar is not brought until after the meal. You say this while having in mind the geometry of the last letters of the Mishnah, where it's wine came to them Balahem Ya'in, which is 91.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 34:11

And this, by the way, like the style of the original text of the of the Sefer Chendat-e-Amin, yeah, is all like that, like different Mishnah and Zohar, and then like he comes up with the Gimateria of the first letters and letters for the meditation of that, and so we have the pearls and also here we don't have like a Pasuk for that, we have like a Mishnah, so Mishnah in Masak-e-Kla'ayn and in the island of Nagasim and the Tumalim I don't know which kind of fruit is that, cristobal, yeah, yeah.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 34:54

Yeah, it's kind of like a perillike fruit yeah and the Prisheem and the Zohadin, and now Kla'ayn is the Bazaar, because they are very close one to another. They are not supposed to be a mixture when you grow them together. But those other fruits that even though they are similar one to another, but they are not coming from the same family of fruits and therefore there's a, there's a concern, there's a prohibition to grow them close to each other so they don't become crossbreed.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 35:32

Yeah, okay line one who causes his vine to overhang his fellow's grain, the holiest cause the grain to be prohibited and he's responsible for it. Where the Yosef of the Shimun say the person does not prohibit his Kla'ayn that which is not his own.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 35:46

So at that point we came to the next cup of wine. So the cup of wine that will be. How do you call it?

S Simon Jacob: 35:57

soft red, a lighter red, not a rosé, but a lighter red. In this instance, we're using a granache which is a nice light red color Gullo mountains and it's a granache called or Hashem, will protect you from the galeel and all of the mouth.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 36:19

Gullo Hashem, yeah, especially now right, so that that is symbolizing coming down right from the world of the to the world of Yetzirah, right and as we're coming down, as we said before. So the redness is symbolizing the judgments, so we can also make it on sweetening those judgments, gullo Hashem. In that point we got to the last group of fruits that are connected with the world of Asiyah, which are the nuts. Now, the thing that's interesting about this tell us again what's different now.

S Simon Jacob: 37:08

What are we doing now? That's different.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 37:10

So, as we're going, down, as we said, there's more judgments. And the shells are not eatable, right, you cannot eat those shells of the world nuts, for example. And that is symbolizing the lower world of Asiyah, which is the closest world to our physical dimension. Right, our physical dimension is just under the world of Asiyah. By the way, some people they mistakenly think that the physical dimension is the world of Asiyah. The world of Asiyah is really spiritual, but it is very close to the physical, so so, like that, basically, all of the spirituality that the world know of is usually the spirituality that there is in the world of Asiyah, all of those like, like demons and like lower angels, spirits and so on that you know there's so many people in the world that they are getting so excited over them.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 38:18

They are like in this lower dimension, okay, and anyhow, we have here every moon as well that's coming up, so you want to read some of the English of the of the nuts, page 54 say the Pasuk and the Zohar above.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 38:40

The following is translation of both I went down to the nut garden to see the blossoms of the stream, to see if the vine had sprouted, if the pomegranates blossomed, or Biokhanan said indeed it is called nut garden. I mean the garden of Eden. Just like a nut is close from all sides, covered by many husks, so is Eden above. It is covered from all angles with many protections. It cannot be seen by any angel, not by a fiery angel, khashmal angel, nor by the eye of a prophet or a navi. As it is written, no eye has seen it. God beside you. This means that the upper Aden is kept for the righteous and no one is able to see it.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 39:15

Even great angels, even the righteous themselves do not know much about it until they get there the presence of Hashem comes down to all of those worlds, even to this world, even to Mitzrayim, as we say in the Agadah. You wanted to see the connection, the Sadr, the Tubish, the Obe Pesach. So there we have, this concept of Hashem himself wanted to be the one who goes and do the Makad B'chorot. I said that Makad B'chorot, the killing the firstborns in Egypt.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 39:57

So it says, like a catty, like me, myself, and we say and I'm not with an angel, Hashem is himself. So in the same way, we have to know that there is some things that Hashem put angels in charge of, but some things, like he chooses to do himself, the revelation of his presence. Okay. So we have here also almonds Do you want to do rimonim?

S Simon Jacob: 40:30

We passed it. No, let's do the nuts Almonds first.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 40:34

We have almonds. Yes, we do. Which would you like?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 40:37

Almonds no but it says correctly that we passed on the rimonim first and then we did the nuts. It says in the Pasuk the nuts, so it's also from Shira Shireem and that's a praise that Hashem is praising Am Israel, that the beauty of Am Israel is like how do you say pelach? Like a piece of the pomegranate. That is like, if you take it like separately and you're reeling the seeds that we eat there. There's like a special beauty for this. And they say you want to read the English Sure?

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 41:23

Rehsh Lakish says that the fire of Gehenom has no power over Jewish sinners. As we see from the Golden Altar, which was only plated by a thin layer of only a coin's worth of gold, lasted many years, even though fire was lit upon it. Jewish sinners how much more so, since they are filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 41:44

Basically, every piece of the pomegranate is symbolizing like a mitzvah, and the beauty of Am Israel is that there's like so much mitzvot even for people that they are not like fully observant, but just by like leaving their simple life, they are performing like many, many mitzvot. For example, what we were discussing about like avoiding eating like worms and bugs right, so, like many people do that. But if you do it and you have in mind that you doing it for mitzvah, for Hashem's sake, you're getting like extra merit by that. So let's go to Fudarman, the. The almonds are known to be like the quickest to bring the fruits from all the trees, so Hashem chose the almonds to show that he's choosing Moshe and Aaron and instead of like all of the other presidents that were trying to compete with them. And that is also like for us. It's a message that we want the redemption to come quick, like the shakkad, instead of like something negative that might come quick. We want the positive things to come quick.

S Simon Jacob: 43:44

It's also it's the earliest flowering fruit in Israel. It's already started to flower here and we're still in January. We're not even into February yet, and as you travel the highway, there are places you can see almond trees blooming.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 44:06

There's a song of Tubishvat that they sing like a Shkadiah Purah. One of the signs of Tubishvat is that you see the blooming like a tree of the almonds. We have like a nice picture here of the almond tree.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 44:23

Beautiful Sure. The Zora on Shmoot 15 says come and see, some almonds are bitter and some are sweet. They hint to spiritual matters. There are angels that are masters of harsh judgments. There are angels that are masters of song. Many incidents are expressed regarding judgments as Bayirmiah, as it says, I see an almond staff. So too, regarding the staff of our owner. That is written. It yielded almonds. The word shakkad itself implies judgment, as written. Hashem Yashkod looked out over the evil and Daniel, and so I am showcased looking out to fulfill my word to execute judgment. As for Shepard said, it could be also looking out for the good, not just for destruction.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 45:06

Bezra de Shem, Bezra de Shem. So we have here like Chestnuts and Brazillianas. Do we have something?

S Simon Jacob: 45:15

in it? No, no, they don't have persimmons either.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 45:21

So yeah, let's bring the last half of wine.

S Simon Jacob: 45:27

Now, this is the reddest. This is the red wine.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 45:30

Tell us about this wine? What is special about this?

S Simon Jacob: 45:35

What wine is this? This is a special wine. It's called Rabenu Tom. It's from the Tom winery up outside of Itamar and actually it's a wine that I helped manufacture and blend. It's made by Tomer Panini with the help of RA Pollock. Tomer is also what.

S Simon Jacob: 45:59

Tomer back or he's still fighting. He's also in Gaza. He's also in Gaza. But and the other person who helped us blend this to pick out what should be blended who helped us with it, was Yakuboria. So this is a very special wine and, yeah, and if you, they're all special people and if this is something you're looking for, you can call me, because there's no place else you can get it.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 46:33

I like it. It's delicious. From all of the four, this is the one.

S Simon Jacob: 46:45

It's really good. Rabenu Tom, that was after me. I didn't mean that. I wasn't trying to insult Rashi.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 46:58

I'm sure it is not an insult. I heard, by the way, that Rashi chose to be a wine maker because, like there's like in all of the, there's so much about like wine and grapes and like there's so much about it, so like he needed to choose something that like to do for his living, so he decided to do that. It's like it's involved so much like Torah around it, so there's a like a nice point of inspiration that once someone needs to like choose, like what is going to do for his living, like it's better to choose something that is somehow connected to Torah, and then it keeps the person like connected to Torah, like why is doing his living?

S Simon Jacob: 47:47

So is there fruit left to do.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 47:51

We basically, like, got to the end of the setter, we skipped a lot of foods but we did, like a chosen foods from each one of the groups. And now I want to connect to what you were asking before about the scene of Adam and Shon, where we enjoyed the leftovers of the foods.

S Simon Jacob: 48:18

So we know Okay, I'm sorry, Go ahead. We know that the scene of Adam and Shon that he was.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 48:28

he chose to eat from the Etzadat, and that forbidden fruit that he ate is basically the reason that we have to go through this existence with physical body, but otherwise Adam like was just a spiritual being and just after the sin he got there could not all like.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 49:07

he manifested as a physical being and and with us all of the all of the rest of the creation, right including the fruits that we're eating, and in a way each one of the foods and each one of the fruits is a certain, a certain angle, certain manifestation of that fruit, of a sadat, in a way, because everything is the truth of knowledge right free of knowledge and what we really want is to connect to the etzachain the free of life right so, so that's the one we need to connect right, and that that is the meditation that they put in the end of the Sadat Ubi Shabbat and maybe you want to read it and that, like, after we finish everything, we want to connect all what we did to the etzachain. It's in a page. It's actually starting in page 63, mishnah 8. Yeah, yeah, but maybe skip that and the bottom of it, yeah from the the.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 50:26

The result says to read the last four chapters of Mishnah, from Masakha, shabbat and Euravine by Shabbat meal, have in mind that each chapter activates one of the four letters of the Yud-kay and Bav-kay, which subsequently gives to the corresponding letters the name al-afdala ad-dand-ud. Of course, if you want to continue with other kinds of fruit and vegetables saying words of Torah around them, you will merit to continue. The abundance of the upper worlds. So far we celebrated the rush on offer.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 50:54

The trees, all of the trees that give fruit, together symbolize the worlds of holiness. Corresponding to that, there is the Ilan Shrak, a tree that does not give fruit, which symbolizes the negative side of the clipa. Now we meditate on the negative side that we do not eat and not want to have a portion of. Separate the clipa from our hearts, as it says, circumcise the olafa of the heart. Then we move on to meditate on the meditation of elevating through the four worlds, from Asya, yitzira to Bria and finally Tatsu loot so we go like in the opposite direction, like from the beginning of the sedum until now.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 51:31

We came down bringing the light to manifest in the physical world, and now we expressing our desire to reconnect our root in the highest world, the world of a Tsu loot, and to choose the etsachayim, the tree of life, instead of the etsadat, instead of the tree of knowledge.

S Simon Jacob: 51:50

So we go, we take the same fruit that we've been eating and we go back up well, that's what we are doing now.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 52:00

Yes, but but in the in the like in the original, said that like we finished, like the eating of the fruits, yeah, and, and we just made dating on this concept of elevation and reconnecting ourself to the right place where we want to be connected to, and that's that's that's something that we should always have in mind that the peace my name.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 52:32

Can Jews really connect to the world of at salute in this, in this world, in this reality that we're living in right now?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 52:39

and first of all, I will say I appreciate the question, for like, it's not obvious, and one of the rabbis that I was learning by is a lot of them and isn't involved with the Kabbalah of the Ram Khan, not only the Kabbalah of the Rosh Hash. So I told him once that that, according to the Rosh Hash, whenever we do anything like we want to elevate to the like the world above at salute, the world of Adam Kadmon, which is the highest of the highest. And his response very surprised me. He said like, what do you mean? Like, even to get to the world of a salute is so difficult. So you're talking with me about like, getting to the world of Babat, salute, what about? I'm coming like, like, how can, how can you say that it's like? It's it's like who can reach there? And when he said that I understood that like for him, like, the whole concept of elevation is different it wasn't theoretical, it was practical right right.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 53:50

It's like it feels the difficulty of the elevation is like it's really doing the work but also your mind limits where you can go right.

S Simon Jacob: 54:02

So if you believe you can get there, you can get there very good and you can't get there. If your mind is saying, no, I can't get there, so we're we're, we're human beings, but where we have, we have an ability to do things that are very holy right, that's that's.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 54:31

That's that is connected to the concept that there and it is said in the name of the bar, gentle, that I put it in the introduction of the city was the fund that he says, like, wherever your thoughts are, that's where you are. Yeah, so if you, if you, if you put your thoughts in there in those like dimensions, the highest dimensions of the creation that are like up and about, so so that's where you are, and even though you have, like, a physical body, but your being is connected to like where you connected your thoughts to. So, in a way, one of the purposes of Amisrael is to be able to function in the physical world, performing this war like, like eating the fruits, for example, like we do now, and in the same time, to connect that to the highest realms with our thoughts, with our meditation this is really so special, especially dealing with all the different fruits and the produce and the wines from Israel.

S Simon Jacob: 55:48

It's just amazing to be able to sit in you shall I am and go through and do this.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 55:54

It's easy for you to say you live in your show. For me, who lives in New Jersey most of my time, I think it's that much more incredible.

S Simon Jacob: 56:01

It is crazy thing. Well, I'm for me, who spent most of my life in New Jersey. I say to who, even though I've been here for a long time, long time, a few years, almost eight years I I have to pinch myself sometimes when I look out the window and I see the Homo and I'm sitting here enjoying the wines of Israel and and it's really really special, really special. You know, each of these wineries is so different. One is from the, the, what you call it, the Gush. Etzion is from the middle of the Gush, which is a very different terroir, very different area than even Hasella, which is the probably the closest thing to it, but it's, it's further, further east in the Gush and it's really bordering on the desert and then going up to Hare Galeel, which is all the way up north, and actually that's.

S Simon Jacob: 57:21

Those wineries are very difficult to get to these days because of the war that isn't happening up north, but it is happening up north. It's not officially. There's, there's so many people who've been relocated because of the fears of the wars up north and because of the bombings and everything that are going on up north, the missiles. So that's a northern wine and this is in the, and the Tom is in Itamar, around Itamar, which is either. It's also north, but it's not, it's further, it's closer to the, the Jordan River Valley and overlooking Harguizim and Harrival yeah, it's really kind of crazy this ongoing debate with people because we are.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 58:18

We talk about Jews, but we are Am Israel.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 58:23

Yeah, these wines are produced within Eretz Israel every one of these wines comes out of Eretz Israel, and they're one but the other part of that connection is a Kadesh bar who is right at the Torah Am Israel, eretz Israel, it's all one. It's all one connected idea, entity. And I don't think the world appreciates quite the extent to which Am Israel and Eretz Israel are connected. I think people identified Israel as Israel and they identify the Jewish people as the Jewish people. And there, you know, some are living in Israel and some are living outside of Israel, but right now I think the Jewish people identify with Eretz Israel.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 59:13

I think in our hearts, in our souls, there's this incredible connection between the people and the land. That is how Hashem looks at us, the gift that he's given us in our connection with this land and our. Somehow, at some level and I don't know what level that is, but our people, anywhere in the world, our people feel at their base, at their core, that Kesher, that connection, that connection, and it is, it is. It's not theoretical, it's not political, it's not, you know, politics driven.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 59:58

It is our essence of who we are it's spiritual really spiritual right, but not just kind of the fake spirituality, it's the real spirituality event but this lend in response to that Kesher, that we feel, as people responded to all of these winemakers, to open up the desert, to give fruit, to give like not okay wine, not mediocre wine, incredible, incredible you know it's wines.

S Simon Jacob: 1:00:30

They also have to have this, the hachema. They have to have the. Not sure you thought to be able to produce wines in those environments, but I know up north they were planting peonies outside of it tomorrow, next to Tom. So what they were doing was they were watering the ground right and out of the ground.

S Simon Jacob: 1:00:53

You know this is absolutely barren. There isn't anything but thistles, thorns and thistles. When you have to dig to plant grapes, my hands, after I do that, whenever I spend a day doing that my hands are just cut to pieces because of the, because of the thorns. I should work gloves, but I like to hold the earth in my hands.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:01:16

I like to hold it in my hands.

S Simon Jacob: 1:01:18

So, but they found that when they watered it, because the first thing you do with before you plant a vineyard, as you start to water in order to soften the earth and what have you, it's not the first thing. The first thing you do is pull away all the stones and clear away all of the other other things that are there, but there's always thorns and and thistles that you, you know, dig into the ground in order to plant the grapefines when you're planting, or when you're planting orchards or something, and when they water the ground again, this was ground with nothing, absolutely barren as soon as they watered it, and as soon as it was purposefully being watered to grow something, out of the ground came all of these different things like grapes there was. There was grape that were growing, there was he ta, it's just wheat, wheat and and barley and all sorts of stuff that was just coming out of the ground. They didn't have to plant it, it just came out of the ground. It was like it says.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:02:39

It says that I don't remember if it's if it's in the prophets or it's like in the in the Mara and the Chazal, but it's definitely say that when Am Israel is living in Israel, then Israel gives its fruits and when Am Israel is in exile, it doesn't give its fruits, so like when the Romans and the Arabs and who knows like what persons were here it was not like giving so much fruits, it was like for them it was useless.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:03:14

It was totally barren and as much as we have like more juice coming to Israel, so we see more and more the blessing of Israel, it's not, it's not just.

S Simon Jacob: 1:03:28

It's not just simply this is there's much more there than you can ever imagine. I'm telling you, this is barren earth that was producing nothing and all we did was water it, and because, because we were there right, all of a sudden it was like welcome home. You know, I've been waiting for you to get back here as well, and and it produces so much.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:03:58

It's just incredible and and like with with what we said about the four worlds. So there's also a concept that the whole world is the world of Asiyah and as Israel is elevated, is the world of Asiyah, and Jerusalem is elevated even more and it's connected to the world of Bria and the holiest. The Bethlehem Dush they call the Temple Mount is like there is in a way connected to the world of what's you look. So in this world we have some kind of representative, like of each one of those, like four dimensions so that's four dimensions, but I told you I'm strongly believing in five dimensions.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 1:04:51

The fifth, in Pesach we have the Hotseti the Hotseti, and I took you out, the Hotseti, and I rescued you. Yeah, the G'alti, and I redeemed you. Yeah, well, I took me and I taken you, lee Laam, to be, to be my nation, and I brought you to this land.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:05:15

Right, that's the fifth well, the Shem one will have soon, the better midash build. So. So inside of the better midash we have also the whole world all the inside of the better midash.

S Simon Jacob: 1:05:26

So it can be like what you're saying. So I feel. So I feel that we should at least drink to that in our partial right in say in partial bow.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 1:05:43

They had already the last, the Lashon Chami. She is already there. It's it's. It's not hinted at, it's explicit. We just have to experience it.

S Simon Jacob: 1:05:51

We haven't experienced it but we have to experience it. So wait, so I have a special wine. What I have that's specially for that. So it's not, it is a white so that it leads back. That will be like the wine of its a Chaim? Yeah, I believe it is I believe it?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:06:18

tell us about this one. What is special about this?

S Simon Jacob: 1:06:20

bottle. First, I want you to taste it okay and I want to get it an honest to goodness reaction from you, and then you can tell me whether you think you're actually tasting okay it's a beautiful golden color wow special.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 1:06:50

I'm telling you you didn't use that one yet. If you want to try this, one, yeah, wow.

S Simon Jacob: 1:06:58

So I think as much as hold on.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 1:07:00

This gets you a hat over my team, because it was not on the table for you right, you're right, you get it.

S Simon Jacob: 1:07:05

Let's go for the girl to vomit you brought it out and I like him a lot.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:07:08

Of love to vomit the omelette okay, so I think we should do better to be sure more often okay.

S Simon Jacob: 1:07:31

So just so that you know what, how special this wine is, this is a late harvest the onion. It's also skin macerated, which means it's a blend of red and white. It's the ultimate blend of red and white. It's a white that's made like a red where the grapes, the skins of the grapes, are kept together with the juice in order to keep the tannins. And what have you in the grapes, in the, in the, in the, in the wine, and it's it's so. It's a skin macerated, late harvest wine, maybe a cavoria cold V. It's a V on yeah, and it's like, honestly, like being in heaven. It's a delicious and incredibly delicious it's sweet, but it's just perfect.

S Simon Jacob: 1:08:32

It's a great delicious wine, so that's the ultimate how they make it so sweet it's.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 1:08:40

That's the way it is late harvest, I should. It's late harvest and so what happens?

S Simon Jacob: 1:08:44

is they let? Like, like it's a mucin, like raisins, not, not raisins, no, no it's just late, so that there's a lot of sugar that's built up into it and they don't let it turn to alcohol fully, so that it keeps a lot of sweetness as well as the alcohol and it's really really special. Well, this day well is that? Is that nice, nice now. Now I'm gonna blow your mind, okay. So once we get up to a long about, isn't there another dimension? Isn't there another dimension? What's about my love?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:09:31

about. This is a good question.

S Simon Jacob: 1:09:36

This is in the rain. This is in the area of Koresh Barhu directly. Okay, wow, it's so nice surprising somebody who is always surprising me. This is also by Yakovoria. Okay, it's a wine that's a Chardonnay that has been in barrel. This was when it was bottled after eight years from no, this was bottled I don't know how many years after.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:10:14

It was eight years right from 2008, and it's it's also a Schwingtole wine but I will, I will call it Abba, yes, yes, because a lot of I connected to him. Yes, this is about this is about your hundred percent.

S Simon Jacob: 1:10:32

Right, that's exactly what this is, and I thought I would never taste it again. And we went into a restaurant last week and and they said they had this wine. And I said you couldn't possibly have this wine. So they said they did and the price was very expensive on a per glass basis. So I said, okay, you know what? I never thought I would taste this wine again, so let me, I'll have it, I'll buy glass. And they came out with a bottle and they said it's not for glasses, for the bottle.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:11:10

And I said done, yes this is the best thing I ever bought out of that restaurant and they don't.

S Simon Jacob: 1:11:18

And they said they don't have anymore, this is their last bottle. And I said now it's my last bottle, so it's. And it's an interesting wine, because normally when you leave wine out it it can oxidize and it becomes bad.

Ovadiah Noam Jacob: 1:11:34

This wine is totally oxidized.

S Simon Jacob: 1:11:46

So it's it's, it's totally oxidized. The only thing, the only reason I don't like to leave the cork off of it, is because it evaporates yes, so it's like he made this wine like from the grapes of Schmieder, like last. Schmieder 8. Wow, wow and it's. And he left it in the barrel for eight years. He left it in barrels for eight years and you pay him a pair of prices. So easy it was it's really special, isn't it crazy?

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:12:31

so to be sure that summer and the whole world, you know, in it's, it's, it's, it's, it's spelled out in about so called that I'm Israeli is doing like the, like, the 70 oxes sacrifices, that the whole, the all of the 70 nations will be blessed with, everybody will have their sustenance.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:13:02

But it's also true, about to be shot, that like all what we're doing in the set of to be shot, is to bless all the fruits of the trees of the whole world, right and and for the whole world for the whole world it's not just a Jewish the world should just appreciate that the efforts made on behalf of them from the Jewish people and that is what I want to say that the Hazal said that if the, if the nations would have known what they are gaining from better mcdash, instead of destroying it, they would have put like, like, like, so far so guarded right.

Rav Yakov Avraham Shepherd : 1:13:37

So so, like the same thing here that like if, if everybody would have known how much they gaining from all of this spiritual work of Am Israel, they would appreciate what we're doing instead of like criticizing us. And I think that's that's, in a certain sense, that's like one of the main points of like the, the, the tie of mashir, that this truth will be revealed.

S Simon Jacob: 1:14:13

Please, god, everybody will be able to to see that truth and appreciate it thank you for being on the kosher terwa and to be shot Samar to everybody. I'm with God. This is Simon Jacob, again your host of today's episode of the kosher terwa. I have a personal request no matter where you are or where you live, please take a moment to pray for our soldier safety and the safe and rapid return of our hostages and, whenever possible, buy and share Israeli wine. I hope you have enjoyed this episode of the kosher terwa. It was exciting and informative for me as well. Please subscribe via your podcast provider to be informed of our new episodes as they are released. If you're new to the kosher terwa, please check out our many past episodes.